


smile and wave boys, just smile and wave

by anotherbuskitten



Series: walls have ears [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27710827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherbuskitten/pseuds/anotherbuskitten
Summary: It's bring your little brother to work day!
Relationships: Regulus Black & Sirius Black
Series: walls have ears [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1755604
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	smile and wave boys, just smile and wave

Regulus hurries along a few steps behind his brother in what could only be described as an incredibly suspicious manner. Sirius keeps catching his reflection in the overly polished walls and floors of the ministry and has to keep from sighing.

Regulus doesn’t particularly need to be disguised but he had become accustomed to a life of skulking during his time as a death eater. Personally, Sirius thought that if either of them needed to hide their face it was most definitely him – his leaving the aurors had been public, to better the lie.

He could have snuck in a back entrance, or flooed straight into the office, or just worn his hood up like Regulus. He probably should have.

The first person to recognise him is a hit wizard whose name Sirius really should know, who greets him with a quick hex. Sirius dodges it, and as an afterthought, throws a protective shield out over his brother. In theory, the fact that Regulus has survived this long as a death eater should be enough to prove his competence – on the other hand Sirius knew Regulus probably better than anyone else alive and what he knew did not fill him with confidence.

“I’M TURNING MYSELF IN.” He shouts down the corridor to the man. “COULD YOU FETCH –

“DEATH EATER SCUM!” The hit wizard yells back, shooting off a yellow spell.

“Oh fantastic.” Sirius mutters to Regulus. “Just my luck. Do you think you can reach a lift?”

“Why don’t you try it?”

“Because I don’t trust you to cover me properly.” He replies flatly.

“Well I don’t trust your chums up there not to arrest me on sight and put me in Azkaban.”

Sirius drops his gaze from his opponent’s wand to give his brother a disbelieving look. “Have you considered that there might be more of a process to it than immediately going to prison?”

Regulus grimaces. “Not if you’re guilty.”

Sirius rolls his eyes. “We’re both guilty Reg. I wouldn’t have let you come if anything could happen to you.”

Regulus doesn’t meet his eyes, and clearly doesn’t believe him entirely but does finally take off towards the lift.

/

Regulus hasn’t been to the ministry in a while. Not since before all this happened – provided ‘all this’ is since Sirius left the ministry and not since the attack.

He was here for the attack.

He hadn’t confirmed this to Sirius yet, although he knows it’s coming. Sooner or later he’s going to have to confirm to his brother that he killed his friends.

Were they his friends? Did he know them well? Regulus knows so little about his brother; sometimes it feels like they’ve never really spoken at all.

Did he have time to mourn them before he took the mark?

  
  


Sirius joins him in the Auror department fifteen minutes after he arrives. Regulus has some twenty wands pointed at him when Sirius pushes the door open. His brother looks none the worse for wear as he bypasses the crowd of threatening wands, reaching a hand out to pull Regulus with him, and handing both their wands over to one of the aurors in a swift movement. Regulus hadn’t even noticed his being taken.

He’s going to be _so_ glad once he’s told them everything and he doesn’t have to do anything anymore.

  
  


The office is large enough that four people shouldn’t cramp it but Regulus still feels suffocated inside. Head Aurors Moody and Crouch are on the other side of the desk both with similar expressions of distaste pointed directly at him. Sitting next to him, Sirius is scowling at them.

“I trust him.” He repeats snappily.

“That’s as may be,” Auror Crouch says slowly with a disapproving glare, “But we don’t and this is a confidential meeting.”

“Firstly, he’s been a Death Eater so nothing I say is going to be a surprise to him, second he has important information, and thirdly I am not leaving him alone out there.”

“Him being a Death Eater is exactly my point.” Crouch says pointedly, skipping over Sirius’ other points, which is a shame because Regulus thinks the third one is the most important thing here.

“He quit.” Sirius says shortly. “As did I, so if you want this meeting to go ahead without any Ex-Death Eaters you might have a problem.”

Crouch looks like he’s going to continue arguing but Moody holds up a hand to stop him.

“We can let the boy speak for himself. Well, Black?”

Oh. That’s him.

“Well I only really joined to annoy Sirius. And I didn’t realise how much work there’d be.”

“Sounds like you should have become a politician.” Sirius mutters not quite under his breath. Regulus sees the tail-end of a smirk on Moody’s face.

“Is that meant to help your case?” Crouch snaps furiously, “That you became a terrorist for spite and left out of laziness!”

Yeah. Ok. When put like that Regulus can see why they don’t like him.

“All you’ve got on your side,” Crouch continues, “Is your relation to Auror Black here, and blood is not quite what we’re fighting for.” His lip curls in a sharp sneer. Moody is smirking again. Even Sirius seems pleased by Crouch’s argument, as evidenced but the sly light in his eyes – it’s the same sort of thing he would have said once upon a time, to their father, immediately prior to getting cursed.

The environment here, the people – it’s all so alien to Regulus. Are all aurors like his brother? He’s doomed.

“I mean I heard that Sirius had joined up to protect me and I…” He trails off, thinking back on the early days after his graduation; how bright and new everything felt – how untouched. “I was a stupid, foolish, spoilt _child_.” He stares at the desk in front of him; he can’t face these soldiers. “I should have just left well-enough alone.”

Sirius surprises him by laughing. “Then we’d be really and truly fucked little brother, wouldn’t we? I, for one, don’t actually want to fight an immortal megalomaniac.”

“Immortal?”

“If you weren’t wasting time glaring at Regulus we would have gotten to that by now.”

“Very well.” Crouch snaps. “We will withhold judgement until you are finished.”

Regulus opens his mouth to quickly tell them about horcruxes – and, in doing so, pass the buck.

“Absolutely not!” Sirius snaps right back. “We’re not saying anything unless you give us a deal. You promised me immunity before I started; if you can do it for me you can do it for...others.”

There’s no way in hell that they’re going to go for that; they can’t possibly know Sirius so little that they’d believe he won’t do anything he can to stop the war. No matter the consequences to his own.

“You’re one of us; we already prepared to handle your defection and return. We haven’t prepared for anyone else.”

“Well we should!” Sirius’ voice lilts into anger. “We should offer something in return for anyone who wants to switch sides. Most of them will go into hiding – if they’re brave enough to come forward we can’t react by locking them up. And he’s my brother,” he sighs, “Why can’t we convince people we did it together?”

“Because you’re Blacks.” Crouch says coldly. “Taking one of you on was already a risk.”

He’s not wrong.

“It’s ok Sirius.” Regulus says quietly. “I just want it to be over. They can put me wherever they want.” It isn’t true of course, but maybe it’s time he takes responsibility for something. “We’ll win the war and then we can suffer the consequences.”

His voice sounds off – odd and old. He sounds like an adult. Like Sirius.

**Author's Note:**

> Regulus should probably go to Azkaban but alas I want him in more stories, so instead he’s under house arrest and only allowed to go out to answer questions for the aurors. He's basically useless to them though so I dunno how long that's gonna last. (fucks sake @me you don't need or want to write a rescue fic and that's where that would go)


End file.
